Synonymy.—Evania punctata Brullé [Townes, 1949].
Natural and experimental hosts.—Blatta orientalis, Istrian Peninsula (Fahringer, 1922); Algeria (Cros, 1942); U.S.A., Ohio (Edmunds, 1954).
Blattella germanica? Europe? (Girault 1907, 1914); Europe (Fahringer, 1922). [The records on this host are extremely doubtful. Girault erroneously cited Marlatt (1902) as the source of this record; see footnote 6, page 236. Fahringer, however, claimed that he obtained seven female parasites from oöthecae of Blattella germanica. He placed female parasites with adults of B. germanica in a glass cage. As soon as oöthecae could be seen between folds of a woolen rag, he removed all the larger cockroaches and held the oöthecae until the parasites emerged. Fahringer may have been dealing with a different species of cockroach, because placing oöthecae in crevices (or between folds of rag) is a habit foreign to B. germanica, the female of which usually carries her oötheca until hatching or until about a day before. Edmunds (1953b) could not induce this wasp to parasitize eggs of B. germanica.]
Periplaneta americana, Istrian Peninsula (Fahringer, 1922); Palestine (Bodenheimer, 1930); U.S.A., Ohio (Edmunds, 1952, 1953b, 1954).
Adult behavior.—The wasps (pl. [33], A) are very active; they walk about a great deal and fly short distances. They are often found in abundance in buildings infested with the larger domiciliary cockroaches where they may reproduce for many generations without leaving the premises. Specimens have also been collected outdoors. (Edmunds, 1953, 1954.) As the adult walks about, the laterally compressed abdomen moves up and down like a waving flag; because of this behavior, these insects are commonly known as ensign-flies. Cros (1942) maintained adults 17 days without food. Edmunds (1954) fed adults on unidentified flowers in the laboratory. He also maintained them for 20 days after capture on a 5-percent honey solution.
Oviposition.—A female P. punctata selected oöthecae of P. americana for oviposition and ignored those of B. orientalis and Parcoblatta pensylvanica in the same cage. Oviposition was accomplished as described for Evania appendigaster. One oötheca was turned over onto its right side by the wasp before she oviposited. (Edmunds, 1952.) Although there seemed to be a "preferred" position for oviposition, it was not obligatory. The usual position was for the female to face the keel of the oötheca, but she also oviposited from the opposite side or, rarely, directly down into the side of the oötheca. The average time spent by females in 10 ovipositions was 29 minutes (range 16-62 minutes). The wasp apparently could not determine whether the eggs had been previously parasitized. The wasp laid her egg between the cockroach eggs rather than in them and she oviposited into oöthecae that had just been dropped and those two weeks old or older. On three occasions nymphal cockroaches emerged within a few hours after the wasp had oviposited. (Edmunds, 1954.) Apparently, for successful parasitization the wasp must oviposit before the cockroaches have reached the final stages of preemergence development. Edmunds (1954) placed females of Periplaneta americana that were carrying oöthecae, into cages with Prosevania; some of the female wasps showed considerable interest in the attached oöthecae, but he observed oviposition only into egg cases that had been dropped by the cockroaches.
Cros (1942) described an interesting reaction that he called "instinctive hostility" of the oriental cockroach toward Prosevania. A wasp was placed in a jar in which a cockroach had just deposited its oötheca. The wasp tried to oviposit into the egg case but was upset and pursued by the cockroach. The cockroach placed herself over the oötheca, standing high on her legs, and remained there motionless. The wasp then approached from the rear, slipped under the cockroach, and, unnoticed by the cockroach, climbed on the oötheca and oviposited successfully.
Development.—In Blatta orientalis: The developmental period was completed in 40-57 days in summer and fall (Cros, 1942). Time from oviposition to emergence of adult varied from 45-177 days; three parthenotes from an oviposition by an unfertilized female wasp developed in 45-53 days (Edmunds, 1954). In Blattella germanica: Almost 4 weeks spent in development (Fahringer, 1922). In Periplaneta americana: Three wasps developed in 127 days (Edmunds, 1952). Only one parasite develops in each oötheca. There were three generations a year in Ohio. (Edmunds, 1954.) In Algeria there were two to three generations per year. The adult emerged from the oötheca through a hole 4 mm. in diameter. (Cros, 1942.) Parthenogenesis exists; the unfertilized eggs produced only males (Edmunds, 1954).
Distribution.—Eastern U.S.A., from New York and Ohio south to Georgia (Townes, 1949). Europe, Syria, Palestine (Kieffer, 1920).